Olivetroad Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I was at a local place that sells and repairs used crawlers for local Mennonite farmers and I fainted when I went in their shop.Here they are converting a D5 into a Cat/Deere farm tractor with a Deere engine, powershift, and three point, new undercarriage - they even fabbed up a new frame and added the oscillation set up on the back of the frame to follow the ground better - that took some work:Here is a finished one with a Deere 6068 engine installed they use to pull a mower conditioner:They get the PTO assembly out of White farm tractors:They had one with a 5.9 cummins and they said it bolted right up to the Cat transmission and was very simple to convert. They tried a 8.3 cummins and it would not fit:They get twice the hours out of a 5.9 than the original Caterpillar/Mitsubishi one.They also had some neat older crawlers they had worked over in the shop:A D2:Row of factory ag crawlers - a long way from western hilly wheat fields!A lot of them had added turbo's:Nice original Allis Chalmers:They also had some late model ones - mostly sold new for orchards I bet:This one needed a little more weight in the back:Here is their shop forklift - on steel!Check out the rubber blocks inside of the steel wheel.Pretty cool place! Nicest guys you ever met - run a good clean shop, and I made a good contact for a new place to sell used engines. The photos don't even show a quarter of what they are involved with - the parts yard around back is worth an hours stroll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slpwlker Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 OMG that is a waste of a perfectley good Cat. Thats just wrong in so many ways. The money it takes to convert it can it be worth it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyGunner Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 OMG that is a waste of a perfectley good Cat. Thats just wrong in so many ways. The money it takes to convert it can it be worth it?I was thinking sacrilege myself . On the money thing like you said I cant believe its worth it. We have hutterites up here and they will spend countless dollars and man time on what seems to be an absolute waste of time and money (to me) doing silly conversions. I am not saying the people arent talented but why take a medium duty short wheel based single screw tractor with an M11 and try and convert it into a long wheel based tri-axle heavy hauler with 500hp? Why not buy what you want/need and cut all the man hours and $$$$ making it close to what you want? I guess I will never understand that mentality. These same people will (this really happens alot) pass up buying something at local business' to save $0.05 (a unit, lb, ton etc) and drive 1.5hrs or more to the nearest town (or sometimes state) to buy it. You cant tell them that they didnt save money since they wasted fuel, man hrs and wear and tear on things by driving so far. I guess that never gets added into their total costs. Quote The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living.The government can only "give" someone what they first take from another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slpwlker Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I watch these guys in Miami do this. Seen a Roadway sleeper truck, Which we know are generally single axles. Converted into a triaxle dump. with floats. I just shook my head like Why. How much cheaper can it be. Now when we had to put a different front end in I did see a price difference but had to go thru hell getting a company to certify it. new rears,front end,frame cut off, I don't see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaysm35a2 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 So whats Cat about those Gen Sets with Cummins yellow engines?Lookes like the Zimmerman place , they have alot of old crawlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyGunner Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 So whats Cat about those Gen Sets with Cummins yellow engines?Lookes like the Zimmerman place , they have alot of old crawlers.doesnt sound like much would be Cat, seems kinda pointless to pay the extra $$$ for a "Cat" if it were Cummins powered. Quote The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living.The government can only "give" someone what they first take from another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaysm35a2 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 My thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivetroad Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 So whats Cat about those Gen Sets with Cummins yellow engines?Lookes like the Zimmerman place , they have alot of old crawlers.Ding, Ding, Ding, you win the prize! It is Zimmermans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenGiant2 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 darn i am to late, was gonna guess the same thing, zimmermans.gg2 Quote We the unwilling, Lead by the unqualified, are doing the impossible, for the ungrateful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivetroad Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Have you guys been to Zimmerman tractor in Versailles, MIssouri? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umodelnut Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 So what do we call it? A CatterDeere? A DeereCatter? I dont know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumperAndSon Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Cool! That's a pretty sweet conversion they did. I would have one just like it but with a Detroit in it.Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umodelnut Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Cool! That's a pretty sweet conversion they did. I would have one just like it but with a Detroit in it.BenId love to have a Mack conversion kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyGunner Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Cool! That's a pretty sweet conversion they did. I would have one just like it but with a Detroit in it.BenId love to have a Mack conversion kit.I dunno guys I think we should let Cat do what they do best which is Dozers/heavy equipment, JD do what they do best tractors and farm equipment and Mack do what they do best, Build killer trucks that last forever. Quote The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living.The government can only "give" someone what they first take from another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumperAndSon Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 How 'bout this: Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyGunner Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 How 'bout this: BenPretty sweet, like I said JD does tractors best. Quote The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living.The government can only "give" someone what they first take from another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumperAndSon Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Pretty sweet, like I said JD does tractors best.Yep. You take something that's already the best in it's class and put a Two-Stroke Detroit in it, you get pure AWESOME.Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
220cummins Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 "They get twice the hours out of a 5.9 than the original Caterpillar/Mitsubishi one"Theres a possiblity as to why someone will spend money on this type of conversion. Not to mention parts for a 5.9 are probably more easily to come across in a pinch... just my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivetroad Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 These guys are really sharp - they are not just doing it for fun! They use these like a farm tractor and they have discovered what works after thousands of hours of use. I bet most of what they convert are ones that they have bought as salvage/burned/wrecked or something and it is a cheap way to make a like new ag crawler by combining the best of a Cat crawler and a John Deere tractor. I agree that it is a crazy thing to even do in the first place. If it was not for some heretical religious reason to not use rubber tires, I am sure no one would even dream such a thing up!But you have to agree that these guys should be commended for their workmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyGunner Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 absolutely they are true craftsman and have shown great ingenuity, but like I said start tallying up all the man hrs to find, bring home, fabricate and finish something like this and you could probably buy a nice used unit that will actually fit your needs.220-I think youre on to something as far as reliability and parts go. I thought Jay was making the point that the Cat gen sets were factory Cummins powered. have a good one. Quote The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living.The government can only "give" someone what they first take from another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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